Pierce County is paying $1.3 million to settle a lawsuit over injuries suffered by a mentally ill patient who hurt himself while escaping from the window of a county-owned mental hospital over five years ago. According to an Associated Press news report, the 27-year-old man was in a seclusion room on the hospital’s fifth floor when he climbed out a window and attempted to jump 15 to 20 feet to a fire escape landing. The man sustained several broken bones as a result of the fall. Family members allege that his injuries occurred because he was not properly monitored by staff at the Puget Sound Hospital.
Hospitals can be held accountable for the negligence caused by the doctors, surgeons, nurses and administrative staff. Hospitals have a standard of care and rules, policies and procedures for staff to follow. If carelessness or negligence on the part of any hospital staff member leads to personal injuries or death, the hospital can be held responsible. Such errors can happen not only in the operation room, but also during post-operative care or as it occurred in this case, with lack of supervision or monitoring.
If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of hospital negligence in Washington, please contact the experienced Seattle personal injury attorneys with The Bernard Law Group at 1-800-418-8282 or info@bernardlawgroup.com for a FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE informational brochure, which has useful, educational information to help you better understand your legal rights and options. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.
Source:http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010678149_apwapatientsuit.html?syndication=rss
Recently, a Minnesota doctor was indefinitely suspended from performing surgery after he removed the wrong kidney from a cancer patient. The wrong-site surgery occurred in 2008. And, just a few months after that, the doctor performed a biopsy on a patient’s pancreas when it should have been done on the kidney. The doctor’s defense was that he was distracted by his beeper and other patients and did not get around to reading the radiologist’s notes. The cancer patient, who was left with one cancerous kidney, had to go through another operation to save the kidney.
Wrong-site surgery occurs when a surgeon or another caregiver goes into the wrong part of the body during surgery or an invasive procedure. This is a serious problem because it results in people either suffering major, long-term health effects or having to undergo additional surgeries or procedures. We often hear about doctors operating the wrong knee, wrong side of the shoulder or the wrong finger. Sometimes, the mistake is made on internal organs when a surgeon operates on the wrong kidney, ovary or any other internal organ that is on both sides of the body.
Wrong-site surgery usually happens because of communication problems between the surgeon and his or her staff. There may be many other issues, but usually it is caused by a breakdown in communication, which can be easily avoided. If you or a loved one is a victim of wrong-site surgery, then you very likely have a medical malpractice claim against the surgeon and hospital.
If your loved one has been seriously injured by medical negligence as a result of surgical errors, please contact the reputed Seattle personal injury attorneys at The Bernard Law Firm to find out about your legal rights and options. Please call us at 1-800-418-8282 or e-mail us at info@bernardlawgroup.com to schedule your FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE informational brochure about Washington medical malpractice cases, which has useful, educational information to help you understand your rights. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.
Source:http://www.officialwire.com/main.php?action=posted_news&rid=48345&catid=60